Motor Oil

markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
edited February 2014 in General
Just curious what you all are running in your new
gasoline trucks?
«1

Comments

  • dave40dave40 Member Posts: 582
    Not sure if they put Mobil 1 in your truck at the factory , But my dealer serviced mine every 3000 miles with Mobil 1 . Never had problems. I would recommend it! If its good enough for the Space Shuttle,its good enough for me !
  • tnt2tnt2 Member Posts: 115
    I am a firm believer in, it's not what you use but that you stay with that brand and change at scheduled intervals. That's not to say that you should use inferior oils. I would stick with the major brands that meet your trucks requirements. I use Pennzoil in my gas vehicles and Rotella-T in my diesels.
  • stevekstevek Member Posts: 362
    I use 5W-30 in the winter and 10W-30 in the summer in my '97. Use 10W30 in the winter and 10W-40 in the summer in my '89. Change the oil every 3K miles. I think changing MOBIL 1 every 3K miles is not needed, you could go for longer if that milage is not all stopngo city driving.
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    My time in the industrial diesel business, I've seen Penziol do some terrible things to some engines. Heavy deposits, lots of breakdown. I won't touch a Penzoil product, but have heard of people who use it without problems. One used truck i bought with 60K miles on it, previous owner used Penzoil. Inside valve covers, everything coated with crusty deposits. after a couple oil changes of Kendall, deposits were gone. I've used Kendall brand quite a bit. You can get their Super D-3, which is one of the most versatile oils on the market. You can put it in a Catepillar D-8, or you can put it in your lawn mower. Chevron Delo, and Shell Rotella T also excellent. I've seen some motor oil tests on the web somewhere, but can't remember exactly off teh top of my head. It covered tests over all the quality requirements: deposits, boil off, break down, etc. Amsoil was the top, Kendall and Mobil 1 were in the top 5. As far as the top 5 in the published test, Kendall was by far the cheapest of the group. Most of the Kendall I use, I get for about $1.30-1.60/ quart. In South Texas, I use straight 30W in summer and 10W-30 for those couple of weeks we have a winter... ;)
  • etuffly2etuffly2 Member Posts: 29
    Change every 3,000 to 4,000 and buy whatever's on sale as long as it meets the car manufacturer's specs. Many hundreds of thousands of miles using this money saving technique and never had a problem. Don't throw money away being loyal to a particular oil company - they're like banks - you don't know who owns what anyway.
  • markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
    Saw semi-synthetic 5W-30 WalMart house brand oil a couple of days ago for $1.53. Bought a case and a half. Made by Quaker State. Would you all run it in a brand new 4.8L Silverado? Wait for a while? How does the oil minder work in the new Chevy's? Based on engine operating hours?

    Ya'll hear about Mobil 1's airplane oil recall? Mobil rebuilt a bunch of airplane motors. From what I remember, the infrequent use of airplanes combined with a 'perfect' oil resulted in all the oil draining off the cylinder walls, leading to rust and corrosion, leading to severe engine damage, and planes landing in unusual places.

    Of course, all I use in my off road two stroke race bikes is full synthetic........
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    synthetics oils are only as good as the polymers used in them. poor synthetic oils will break down quickly and do more damage than a poor "pure" oil. if the polymers in a 5W-30 break down quickly, you're left with 5W oil in an application that needs 30W. If I buy synthetic, I don't buy the cheapie, and I only buy from a reputable name.
  • markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
    Even in pure oils, I thought the viscosity improvers were 'synthetic'.
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    eehh.., don't know for sure about that. maybe so. even if thats true, the synthetic parts would be a MUCH lower percentage of the whole, especially compared to a true multiweight.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Only the best in all my vehicles, new or old. Mobil 1 fully synthetic, every 2500-3000 miles. I don't know if it works, but I've never had an engine oiling problem either.
  • stanfordstanford Member Posts: 606
    It would be much more of an issue if you only did 3000 miles a year. If you're putting at least 1000 miles a month on a vehicle (I'm averaging more like 3k) then the oil doesn't have as much time to break down due to neglect. I still maintain that 2500-3000 miles is excessively frequent.
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    its really not so much the time that breaks down the oil, as it is time under heat and pressure. so one month or twelve months to get to 3K miles really doesn't matter. I kinda agree that with today's oil and filtering technologies, you could probably go less frequent than 3000.

    but i also believe oil protection decreases exponentially. the more particles in your oil, the damage it does next flow thru, then even more damage the next flow thru, etc. personally i'll stick with the 3K. someone may get 300,000 miles by doing 10K mile oil changes, but i'm not going to be the guinea pig....
  • wandrrwandrr Member Posts: 13
    For a pretty good technical discussion of oils, see http://www.api.org/programs_services/quality/oilchart.htm
    Generally, for spark ignition engines (ie, gas), use an oil rated SJ; for compression ignition (ie, diesel), use CH-4. These ratings are shown in the API "starburst" marked somewhere on the container. As long as the oil meets those ratings, buy the least expensive you can find.

    For us diesel drivers with giant oilpans, the least expensive part is important!
  • wandrrwandrr Member Posts: 13
    Correction to my last post - the rating is actually in the API Service Symbol "donut", not the starburst, for what it's worth.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Here is another good link for technical discussion of oils.
    http://www.f-body.org/oldfaq/html/tech/sect2.html#chooseoil
  • jerryb2jerryb2 Member Posts: 14
    An Amsoil dealer here in texas claims that in all his vehicles he has installed a dual filter system and changes the filters only ever 25000miles and, get this, never changes the oil--just tops it off when he does a filter change. Of course he is using Amsoil. --any comments

    also, a mechanic who has a call in radio program on saturdays is saying that he runs 20w50 in all his vehicles and recommends it to everyone regardless of whether they drive a hugo or f350.??
  • tnt2tnt2 Member Posts: 115
    20w50 may work in Texas, but in the midwest you can put a quart of 20w50 on a popcicle stick in the dead of winter. I don't know of a single manufacturer that recommends 20w50, in fact Ford specifies that you don't use it. Can't remember which manual I read it in though, Expedition or F350

    cdean: What about water condensation in your oil if you let it set for 12 months? I wouldn't do it.

    I still believe that you get the best performance and longevity if you stick with just one brand instead of switching every time you change your oil.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Well, with prolong you can just run your Viper's crankcase dry, let Al Unser race it, and even put sand inside your valve covers. But would you do it? No, I want the oil that drains out to be nearly as clean as the stuff I put back in. I once rode with an Iranian cabbie. He had a beat up Impala police special, with 335,000 miles on the odometer. The seats were ripped, but it ran very smooth. He beamed brightly when I asked him if that odometer was correct. He said the engine AND tranny were original, and that his secret was changing the oil every 10 days, whether he put 300 or 3000 miles on it, and whether it needed it or not. He changed the tranny oil every month.

    This link will explain what each oil additive does, and what concentration is found in many popular oils.
    http://www.f-body.org/oldfaq/html/tech/sect2.html#chooseoil
  • wlbwlb Member Posts: 8
    Very good, sensible information here--unlike some other topics I have scanned. Numerous analyses in this subject repeat that it is excessive to change oil every 3000 except under very severe use. Synthetic oils need to be changed as frequently as others. Thanks for good info.
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    I befriended a Penzoil engineer this weekend that knew a lot about oils, and Fords as well, since Penzoil does some of Ford's lubrication engineering. anyway here's what he said about the oil change interval.

    Oil itself is fine way up to and past 3000 miles. what isn't fine is the antioxidants, anti-acids, and other additives in your oil. Most of these additives are the first thing to breakdown, or become depleted by reaction. Without these additives, the water produced from combustion, along with natural condensation and other acids produced by broken hydrocarbons can "attack" your oil, and actually start the breakdown process of the actual lubricant. some oils last longer than others.

    I also asked him about oils like Amsoil, where oil is not changed until 25000, and just a filter is changed every 5000(?) with filter. His reply was: When you change the filter and add that one quart, what your are doing is replenishing the additives the oil needs to protect itself.
  • LARRY1800LARRY1800 Member Posts: 2
    Any Name Brand, Synthetic or Natural will all do fine! Changing at regular intervals with a quality oil filter is the answer.
  • RichRich Member Posts: 128
    Are there any definitive, unbiased and impartial tests concerning the teflon oil additives?

    I'm thinking of the Slick, T-Plus and TufOil products. The S & T products are once every 50K and add a quart or more to the oil change. The TufOil claims 4 Oz. per oil change. This works out to be one quart per 8 oil changes. (24K to 40K miles.)

    Slick says "We're better."
    T-Plus says "More gobbledgook than Slick."
    Tuf says "We're the most slippery on earth."

    Does anybody notice a difference when using these products? If so, can you quantify the difference and for how many miles?

    Or is this stuff just as slippery as snake oil?

    Rich
  • stanfordstanford Member Posts: 606
    One warning -- using those products can make your engine next to impossible to rebuild properly. Then again, for most people that's not a concern.
  • odyceeodycee Member Posts: 33
    I agree with Larry1800, just change your oil regularly at 3k mile and your car should last for a long time. I have an 85 Mazda still running strong with the original engine (215,000 miles). I use Castrol oil only for my car. It does not break down as fast as other brand.
  • tnt2tnt2 Member Posts: 115
    When you say that it doesn't break down as fast as other brands, is that from their commercial or an independent test? I've always wondered about their claims, although I do think it is good oil.
  • goldbergergoldberger Member Posts: 58
    RE: TufOil, et al.

    The concept of adding micropulverized teflon powder to oil started in the printing industry, where it was used to quiet the gear trains in the presses. A generation ago, before any of the products were commercially available or widely advertised, a friend (whose brother was a printer) began adding teflon powder to his VW. When it hit a quarter-million miles, I decided that the stuff more investigating. I tried a batch of TufOil in a "B" motor Saab, an engine known to be a "high friction" design. Mileage improved by 10%, and this was a good quality test, with a predictable 100 miles-per-day commute, summer-time temperatures, and careful, multi-tank-fill fuel measurements. With todays low-friction designs, such mileage improvements are unlikely, but the implied reduction in wear on engine start is the real reason I have continued to use TufOil.
  • ois99ois99 Member Posts: 3
    I have a 87 Nissan Sentra with 170,000 miles.
    I started to Castrol oil when the car has 5,000 miles and replaced oil every 3,000 miles with Fram filter. Treated the engine with Slick 50 at 50,000 miles. Changes to Castrol Synthentic at 80,000 mile and replace oil every 5,000 with Fram oil filter. Treated the engine with Slick 50 at 120,000 miles. Treasted the engine with Dul Lube at 150,000 miles. Now the car is old and start to appear small problems but the engine is still very strong I can still speed up 75 Miles per hours quickly and smoothly. However, I retired the Sentra because others parts's age problems.
  • markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
    I suspect your frequent oil changes had alot to do with 'trouble free' engine life. Suspect the Slick 50 had nothing to do with it....

    BTW, I am an engineer, motorsports enthusiast.
    Work full time as a process engineer designing medical products made of PTFE. I don't use it in my engines..........
  • RichRich Member Posts: 128
    stanford,
    What's the logic behind teflon oil and the rebuild issue?
    Rich
  • tom201tom201 Member Posts: 10
    I use the walmart tech 2000 oil at .78 cents a quart or whatever else is cheap in my 99 silverado and other cars,mowers and diesel tractor. I even mix brands and viscositys and change oil and filter usually at 4500 miles but have streched it to 6k a few times. The cheap oils in my area all have the API rating of SJ just like the more expensive oils. I truly belive they are made very close to the same. I have always gotten at least over 125k on my vehicles before I got rid of them while they were still running fine. I also have used slick 50 in all my engines and last year the heads gaskets blew on our van and the wife drove it without any water and nothing warped or cracked. Also the oil seal went out on my honda mower last summer and I don't know how long I ran it without any oil but after replacing the seal its still running without any noticable oil consumption ...so I assume the slick 50 saved it also. I am sure walmart does not make their own and it is made by one of the well known brands. By the way does anybody out there know who makes tech 2000 oil??
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    first of all Tom, your Slick 50 or your oil had absolutely nothing to do with your wife's engine surviving without water. I don't know how much water you had left, but ya'll were pretty lucky.

    you're lawnmower ran fine without oil because those engines hardly need any oil. oil is not pumped in those engines, it is splashed. plus friction is so minimul anyway, you could squirt a little oil on all the components and run it dry for an hour before it would blow.

    second of all, mixing viscosities is not idea. mixing different brands of the same viscosity is OK, but when you mix say a 10W-30 with a straight 30, you are mixing 2 entirely different compounds and additives, and the reaction between the two is completely unknown. today's engineering materials in bearings and wear parts are incredibly hard, wear resistant, as well as "slick". i've seen zero maintenance trucks with oil changes at 30,000 mile intervals make it to 150,000 miles. but then again, i've some of those burn up before 100K also. I wouldn't take part in that crapshoot.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    tom201:
    I wouldn't want to be the buyer of your trade-ins, and the buyer of my trade-ins gets a more frequently lubricated machine. Still, you are probably saving money.
  • markbuckmarkbuck Member Posts: 1,021
    Walmart tech2000 oil - used to be Valvoline, lately quaker state at my store. Just look at one of the unopened cases. A stick on bar code thingie lists who shipped it to Walmart.

    Tom201 - have you looked at the semisynthetic tech2000? Only an extra quarter or two a quart....
  • stanfordstanford Member Posts: 606
    Rich -- I'll double check with the engine shop I use -- I want to say that it really screwed things up when it became time to rebore the cylindars.

    As far as mixing viscosities goes -- did you really (ie: mix 10W30 with 20W50) or were you just mixing 10W30 with 30WT (for example)? In the summer, after a very few seconds of operation you'll be running at 30WT anyway (with that combo).

    Oil doesn't really matter with a coolant leak. Some of these smaller engines seem to take forever to heat up to oil-curdling temperatures, even when air cooled.

    I've never used Slick 50 in any of my vehicles, and generally run over 100K miles without any problems. Use whatever oil's on hand, generally 10W30 and change it regularly (5000 miles in my gas engines, 7500 in the diesel). No problems to date...
  • grape1grape1 Member Posts: 2
    I have a question is it true that you can run synthetic oil trice as long as regular oils and why is that? What makes synthetic oil superior to regular motor oil?
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    One of the early promises of synthetic oils was you could go 25,000 miles or one year between oil changes. But the car manufacturers while allowing you to use synthetics and maintain your warranty, don't cut you any slack in the maintenance schedule for using it. So it's a judgement by you. For me? Mobil 1 every 3000 miles or 3 months. My understanding of synthetics is that the base stock are polymers with molecules having stronger electrical bonds. The benefit of this is you can make the oil thinner but still maintain shear strength to prevent metal to metal contact. Thinner oil flows faster at start up, lubricating your engine parts sooner at a time many experts say engine wear is the highest. They also have better resistance to acids in the crankcase, and a higher vaporization point.
  • stanfordstanford Member Posts: 606
    How much extra is the Mobil 1 per oil change?
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Uh, well you've undressed me in front of everyone with that question. Let's see, a routine full service at Super Lube on Broadway Street in Denver for my 1990 S10 Blazer 4x4 runs about $48.00 with tax, probably about $20.00 less if you accept the standard Pennzoil product.
  • stanfordstanford Member Posts: 606
    So, assuming that an engine can run 90000 miles on standard oil, you've spent about $600 more for synthetics -- or about the cost of an engine rebuild around here. Looks like its a wash. Of course, if your engine lasts much longer than that anyway (probably will) you'd be better off with the plain stuff. I think that the standard stuff (much better now than it used to be) is fine for me, but its your truck.
  • tungletungle Member Posts: 56
    I used Castrol full synth on my '83 celica when
    it reached 140K. The first time I used that oil, the engine was so smooth and so quiet that I could not even imagine. Then, I've used it also on my wife's '89 maxima. I guess it's easy to observe the improvement on old and cranky engines. Even though I have not read any info on synthetic, I believed it's worth the money. By the
    way, I changed oil around 4-5K intervals.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    $600 sounds about right for a cheap rebuild, 79 cents sounds about right for cheap oil. You can buy a new, not rebuilt G.M. Goodwrench engine with warranty for about $1500, but the best part is, with synthetic oils to thank, I've never needed one. My S10 blazer with 103,000 miles does not use oil between changes, the gauge shows good oil pressure, and tail-pipe does not smoke. My mercedes had 210,000 on it, no smoke, no adds. My 73 240Z Datsun had 110,000 miles, it smoked a bit, but did not get synthetics like the others. Tell you what, I'll sell you my used Mobil 1 for 79 cents a quart, and even pay the shipping.
  • chevy2chevy2 Member Posts: 5
    to: quadrunner 500
    I have just purchased a '99 silverado truck and was thinking about changing to mobil 1 after the first 500 miles. how often do you change your oil and do you use the mobil 1 oil filter?
  • akjbmwakjbmw Member Posts: 231
    chevy2
    Some years ago, I rebuilt a Ford 351W engine and put Mobil-1 in it from the first fire-up. It revved fast and ran smooth. After 3000 miles of adding a quart every 500 miles, I switched to non-synthetic (Castrol) and the oil consumption dropped quickly.
    My conclusion was that the Mobil-1 worked so well, the rings didn’t seat.
    By this time, I was stationed in Hawaii and before I reached the 10,000 mile target to switch back to Mobil-1, I sold the car there and brought back our other car. I had picked the 10k target out of the air, since no one seemed to have any better ideas at the time.
    The 351W was stuffed into a ’62 Comet with headers, close ratio T-10, and a four barrel progressive linkage Holley 650. I was inclined to collect tickets with it, and the Navy would only ship one car to my next assignment on the Mainland. It looked quite plain. What we used to call a “sleeper”. Did embarrass unsuspecting Mustangs and Camaros though. Great fun.

    Moral of the story? Contrary to what Mobil told me (I called their offices in New York), don’t start with Mobil-1. Wait until the rings are seated well.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    chevy2,
    I haven't been using the mobil 1 oil filter. I really just learned there is one, and don't know anything about it. I do change the oil and filter with mobil 1 oil every 3000 miles. As for the break-in suggestions, I can only say I hear that over and over, let the rings seat first. But there are several questions that remain. For example, if this is true, why does Chevrolet make Mobil 1 the factory fill on new Corvettes, that have NO break-in miles? Same for BMW I am told. Some newer engines use hard surfaces that do not wear in to the degree that a freshly honed iron cylinder sleeve might. For example, on some Japanese engines, hard coatings from ion implantation or ceramics will not "scuff-in." They have to mate and be matched from the beginning. In the case of the Silverado I don't know. But used to be break-in was kind of obvious. You started with a hot-running new engine that felt very tight, perhaps ran a bit rough, and gave off break-in odors, and dirtied the oil quickly. My new Silverado, in contrast seems very smooth from the get-go, and after 1100 miles, the oil still appears clean. I'm going to change it with Mobil 1 at 1500 anyway.
  • DavyddDavydd Member Posts: 121
    When I bought my previous vehicle, a '97 Subaru Outback, the dealer recommended putting 7,000 miles on the car before switching to synthetic (which they recommended).
  • tnt2tnt2 Member Posts: 115
    Don't the new corvette engines get a 20 minute run time before they go into the car? Thought I read that somewhere.
  • cdeancdean Member Posts: 1,110
    The Corvette engines are designed specifically to run on fully synthetic oil. Mobil One paid Chevrolet a butt load of money to put their symbol on the oil cap and their oil in the pan. I was told that by an oil research engineer.
  • quadrunner500quadrunner500 Member Posts: 2,721
    Well, look...according to information available on the F-body home page, http://www.f-body.org/
    the reason that Corvettes are shipped with the synthetic is because they run hotter and do not have engine oil coolers, unless ordered with the perfomance suspension. And even then, many owners who did order the performance suspension report that their cars arrived without the oil coolers anyway. Now as for the 20 minute break-in run, all engines get that. But think about it, how many miles can that break-in run amount to, maybe 20?
    The Corvettes and Camaros used to share the same engine, the iron block aluminum head LT1 engine. The Corvette shipped with Mobil 1, the Camaro did not, but the Z28/performance axle option came with an engine oil cooler on the Camaro.
  • cornhusker1cornhusker1 Member Posts: 22
    Well here is the scoop on Oils. I have an 89 Chevy 4wd Pickup. I have used all oils mostly Valvoline. Never have used Pennzoil. This truck has leaked or used oil to the point that it showed zero pounds on my oil gauge. And this happened at least 15 times. Well now the truck has 206,000 miles on the original motor and it still doesn't knock or smoke. I used Duralube once at about 60,000 miles. Does this mean oil changes aren't that necessary? It has used oil since I bought it new. Oil changes usually were at about 8 or 9 thousand
  • shoozshooz Member Posts: 27
    Looking at the Silverado manual (pg 6-14)Chevy recommends 5W-30. They say do NOT use SAE 10W-40, SAE 20W-50 or any other grade oil not recommended. This is on the 5.3L V8.
    I've been using Castrol Syntec 5W-50 on two Cherokees and would like to use it on the Silverado at the third oil change. Bad karma?
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